Gus Malzahn expresses desire to see Auburn stagger annual rivalry games against Alabama and Georgia

Michael Wayne Bratton| 2 years ago

If Gus Malzahn had it his way, Auburn wouldn’t travel to both Georgia and Alabama in any given season.

While acknowledging his team does get the added benefit of hosting both of those games every other season, Malzahn expressed his desire to see one of those games moved so that his Tigers only have to hit the road to one of its main rivals each year. The Auburn coach even referenced back to his days as offensive coordinator on The Plains back in 2010. Back then, Auburn did stagger the Georgia and Alabama games.

“I think the big thing is having them staggered,” Malzahn said. “One at home and one away would probably be the best… Last year was two at home, here (in 2018) it’s two away. Looking back at 2010, we played Georgia at home and Alabama away. That would be my wish.”

Later in the interview, Malzahn was asked about his defense. Does the fact the Tigers could have the best defensive front in the SEC make him more aggressive on offense?

“Yeah, that is a great luxury, there’s no doubt about that,” the Auburn coach answered. “We like to be aggressive anyway, but when you have a defense like we have — we have the majority of our defense back, we think we have a chance to be pretty good. It gives you more flexibility, not just calling plays just managing the entire game anytime you have a defense like we’ve got.”

The Auburn coach was also asked about the current state of graduate transfers in college football. The Tigers landed a commitment from UMass graduate transfer offensive lineman Jack Driscoll just a few weeks ago.

“It has changed college football,” Malzahn commented. “It’s getting more and more popular. The last few years, we’ve kept a couple scholarships back at some positions of need if it comes about. It’s worked out for us. The guy you are talking about (Driscoll) has a chance to be a really good player and he’s our type of person. I think that’s the No. 1 thing.”

Yeah, it was a conference decision. It also screwed up UGA’s home slate every other year. With the Cocktail Party being out-of-state, that left UGA’s two other biggest rivals (UT, Auburn) both on the road or both at home. The years they are both away – like last year, along with Notre Dame on the road – can leave the home schedule pretty bare. A correction would not only give UGA back that lost home game, but balance both teams’ schedules a little better.

Oh ok…i get it Gus….so you beat UGA and Bama in back to back weeks and enjoy the hype from it and get a huge contract extension…and now you know that will never happen again so lets get this flipped!!! What a joke of a Coach!! No youre gonna take your a.. Whippings this year back to back on the ROAD!!!

If we played in the East, with all of the cupcakes, this wouldn’t be a conversation. But playing a football superpower like Alabama at the end of every season in the West, along with a potential up-and-coming superpower like Georgia, in a 3 week span is ludicrous. No other team in college football has an ending slate that difficult. This is a perfectly reasonable request.